Mary by de Bayou

Mary by de Bayou, May you be merry by you bayou.

Here in the Louisiana boon docks there are signs of budding spring approaching. We have done a lot of clearing work over the winter. The chopped places look scraggly now. Soon the spring greening will start. Trees and privit bushes will leaf out and polish the rough edges.

Dave and Janet's Adventure

Recently Dave and I explored the "far side" of Silver Creek property. We have 15 acres here, with two creeks. The larger creek, Silver Creek, runs along the northern border of the property. The smaller Gold Creek runs through the property and divides it into the "near side" and "far side".

We have been here eight years. The house is built on a small knoll. The rest of the property is subject to flooding. Ecologically rich, inland, Louisiana wet lands. I bought the property primarily because I have a strong NEED for nature. Communing with nature is necessary for me to maintain joy. Also, I wanted a place for my family to gather and feel Mother Nature. I want to retire in a place with grandchild appeal.

The property was clear cut for timber before it was sold to me. The first phase of secession wove an impassable tangle of privit and vines. It is so jungly and thick that people cannot walk without bushwacking. The vines include fox grape (delicious, steeped to make juice) and muscadine and a savage fast growing thorn vine.

The near side is about five acres. We have cut trails and clearings in this area where the two creeks meet. Clearing with hand tools and chain saw is labor intensive, but, this is a really good way to discover the land intimately. I want to identify every wild flower, herb and mushroom. (One of those unrealistic goals, but at least I can try.) There are culinary and medicinal plants to protect.

One of my favorite activities is clearing with hand tools. To justify spending hours every week at this laborious, slow activity, I review my reasons. It is good exercise, it is meditative, it is good for the ecology, and it is helping my family to stay connected with Mother Earth.

I am not coordinated enough to use the chain saw. When asked what I want for my birthday I tell the guys "chain sawing".

Recently my sons, Derek and Ben were chainsawing to widen the trails. I thought, "Oh, how wonderful, they are helping to make my beautiful dream of The Silver Creek Natural Walking Meditation Garden come true". Dave pulled me back to reality, "They are doing that so they can ride their buggy in the woods." Oh well, whatever their motivation, the trails were improved.

We enjoy the five acres on the "near side" but very rarely cross Gold Creek to get to the "far side". There are whole acres that I have never seen. A nice sand bar is located at the western property edge. Previously we waded the creek and walked a narrow trail to swim there. The trail was destroyed by that bitch, Katrina with a tornado.

Dave and I start out midmorning, the weather is perfect, cool and sunny. Dave carries a branch cutter and I have a machete. We walk the back trail to a place where the shallow creek banks on both sides are gently slopping with small sand bars. We cross easily in our rubber boots. Immediately on the other side we start bushwacking our way through, doubling back north west, toward the big sand bar.

The barriers are Mother Nature's thick weaving of privit and vines. I find more Star Anise (or Carolina Allspice) trees. Another big Tupelo tree. Magnola. Lots of Water Oak. What joy, to see the land recover from the timber cutting. Deer tracks are everywhere. We do not see any deer because we are making noise and we smell like humans.

We transverse swampy bogs and higher ridges. I look for areas of shallow digging, for signs of wild feral hog wallows. People say that they are surely on the low lying areas of the property. Two hundred fifty pound monsters that may charge intruders. I have the machete; like I could stop a charging hog; for Goddess sake, be real. I look for a tree to climb. I do not know if I am relieved or disappointed, but, we do not see any wallows or hogs.

Bushwacking, we finally make our way to the big sandbar. I am happy to see that it is still beautiful. Big pine tree still standing. River birch. This is a good place for family swimming. Sand gently slopping into the tea colored stream. We must have good access to this private petite bijou. I have been campaigning for a cable crossing the creek for years, no luck yet. We can swim up the creek and take the children in the little boat, but we need something more convenient.

Once when I was alone here, sitting on a mini island, a large owl landed on a branch and stared at me for five minutes before flapping away, swooshing its strong wings. Another time a deer waded toward me and then turned into the woods without even noticing me. This is what I need to make my day worth all the glitches and bullshit.

Dave and I bushwack back toward the house. He is doing most of the cutting. Really, I am klutzy with the machete. I whack at a branch, to make him think that I am helping, but nothing is cut.

In some places the going is easy. We go down a gulley, and up to white sand ground area with a low canopy of privit and willow trees, where the cleome will bloom come spring.

The place where huckleberries grow. Beaver sticks, knawed to eat the bark. Blue Heron fishes the water. Kingfisher glides above the water surface.

Close to where the creeks converge, Dave cuts through a thicket of thorns. Then we see that it is too deep to cross there. Make our way back south and cross close to the Witness Tree.

Back in relative civilization, my appreciation for our trail cutting labors is renewed. I see the beauty that we have sculpted from tangled vegetation in a new light. Our little adventure has shifted my perspective just a few degrees. Feeling grateful.